Configuration Connection Agreements are automatically created by
Setup when you install an Exchange 2000 server in an existing
Exchange 5.5 organization. When you install Exchange 2000, Setup
analyzes your Exchange organization and builds the Configuration
Connection Agreement necessary to replicate Exchange-specific
configuration information between Exchange 5.5 and Active
Directory. For example:

When you install the first instance of
Exchange 2000 in an Exchange 5.5 organization, the Configuration
Connection Agreement uploads the configuration directory data from
every Exchange 5.5 site to Active Directory; however, it downloads
only the configuration directory data for the local site.

As you install Exchange 2000 servers in other Exchange 5.5
sites, more Configuration Connection Agreements are installed. As
this happens, the first Configuration Connection Agreement stops
uploading configuration directory data for the sites that now have
Exchange 2000 servers installed, and the configuration directory
data is replicated by the Configuration Connection Agreement for
each site.

Note After replication, all
Exchange 5.x sites are represented in Active Directory as
administrative groups, and conversely, Exchange 2000 servers in the
administrative groups are represented in the Exchange 5.x
sites.

Configuration Connection Agreements allow the Exchange 2000
server to be represented in the Exchange 5.5 directory, and earlier
versions of Exchange can send and receive messages as seamlessly as
if the new server is running Exchange 5.5. Additionally, message
routing information must be replicated between Active Directory and
the Exchange 5.5 directory to allow Exchange 2000 servers to send
messages to e-mail connectors that exist only on the Exchange 5.5
servers and vice versa.

Configuration Connection Agreements replicate Exchange-specific
configuration information between Active Directory and Exchange
Site Replication Service (SRS). SRS is a
component installed by Exchange 2000 and is similar to Exchange 5.5
Directory Service, although the Messaging Application Programming Interface
(MAPI) is disabled. When an Exchange 2000 server is installed in an
Exchange 5.x site, SRS is used for intra-site directory
replication over remote
procedure call (RPC). If an Exchange 5.5
directory-replication bridgehead server is upgraded to Exchange
2000, SRS provides mail-based directory replication to downstream
Exchange 5.x sites.

Viewing and Modifying Configuration Connection Agreements

After Setup configures the Configuration Connection Agreement,
you can view and modify the Configuration Connection Agreements as
described in Managing Active Directory
Connector.

You can view and modify Configuration Connection Agreements in
the following ways:

View the synchronization direction of the Connection
Agreement.

Select the Active Directory Connector (ADC) server that hosts
the Configuration Connection Agreement. By default, the
Configuration Connection Agreement is configured on the first ADC
that Exchange 2000 Setup detects.

View bridgehead servers at each end of a Connection Agreement.
The bridgehead servers are automatically configured. The Exchange
Server 5.5 bridgehead server is the Exchange Server 5.5 server you
specify during setup, when you are prompted for the name of a
server in the Exchange Server 5.5 site. Setup obtains the
configuration information for the Exchange site from this server
and uses it in the Configuration Connection Agreement.

Specify the accounts that ADC uses to connect to the
bridgeheads and the type of authentication used.

Specify the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) port
for the Exchange Server 5.5 server. This may have been changed to
avoid port conflicts if Exchange Server 5.5 is running on Windows
2000.

Configure synchronization schedules between Active Directory
and the Exchange directory. By default, polling takes place
approximately every five seconds during scheduled times that you
specify. Polling checks for changes in each directory defined in
the Configuration Connection Agreement.

View and specify details and security. You can view details
such as when the Configuration Connection Agreement was created,
last modified, and when the last synchronization took place. There
is also a text box in which you can note any changes that have been
made to the Configuration Connection Agreement, and the reason for
those changes. You can view and specify the security for the
Configuration Connection Agreement from ADC. This is a standard
Security dialog box for Active Directory.

For more information about Configuration Connection Agreements,
see Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Planning and
Installation.